NYS Music 2023

Category: Troy

  • EMPAC Announces Spring 2024 Programming

    EMPAC / Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has announced its Spring 2024 programming.

    From January through May, EMPAC 2024 presents a diverse lineup of interdisciplinary programming, including concerts, film screenings, dance performances, artists’ talks, and a two-day symposium. Furthering their mission of gathering artists, thinkers, and audiences together to explore the boundaries of art, science, politics, and technology, EMPAC’s programming will keep people intrigued and entertained.

    EMPAC / the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer is located on the corner of 8th Street and College Avenue in Troy. It is a 220,000-square-foot facility designed expressly for creating and presenting experimental media and performing arts. Since the building’s opening in 2008, the curatorial program has supported more than 600 performances and new works through residencies, commissions, partnerships, premieres, installations, publications, and more.

    EMPAC Spring 2024 Programming

    Barobar Jagtana (January 11) is a screening of Suneil Sanzgiri’s vivid trilogy of short films. He is a recipient of the UOVO Prize and his solo exhibition is currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum through May 2024. The Konkani title of the series roughly translates to “continuously surviving.” The evening screens three of his films: At Home But Not At Home (2019), Letter From Your Far-off Country (2020), and Golden Jubilee (2021), followed by a conversation with curator Vic Brooks.

    Barobar Jagtana connects the childhood experience of Sanzgiri’s father at the tail-end of Portuguese occupation in Goa, India with the broader history of South Asian anti-colonial struggle. The films link past events to contemporary struggles, forging connections between solidarity movements across time with a distinct visual language.

    Poetry & Fairy Tale (January 19) is a piano recital by award-winning pianist and composer Conrad Tao, hailed “the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music” by New York Magazine. Tao has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony, and his original compositions have been performed by orchestras throughout the world.

    This new program combines Western repertoire and provocative contemporary works. Inspired by themes of poetry and fairy tales, Tao’s one-night-only recital tests a line-up that includes music by Johannes Brahms, Tod Moellenberg, David Fulmer, Rebecca Saunders, and Maurice Ravel. 

    In February, EMPAC presents Reembodied Sound 2024 (February 2-3), a two-day festival and symposium on transducer-based music and sonic art, co-presented with the Rensselaer Department of Arts. A famed member of the New York School, David Tudor pioneered transducer-based artworks in the 1960s and 70s, inspired by the work of his frequent collaborator John Cage. Tudor created Rainforest IV in 1973, which used “surface speakers” (electric transducers) to excite the sonic possibilities of such objects.

    The symposium has three tracks: a remounting of Rainforest IV by students of the Rensselaer Arts Department with John Driscoll and Phil Edelstein in commemoration of its 50th anniversary in 2023, a series of demonstrations and paper presentations, selected from an open call that received 189 project submissions from around the world, with a keynote address by noted sound art scholar and composer Cathy van Eck, and a concert of transducer-based works to be announced. All activities are free and open to the public. 

    Grounds of Coherence #1 / but this is the language we met in (February 9) is a multifaceted evening with filmmaker Shen Xin and performer Ali Van that includes an American premiere film screening, a live performance, and the debut of their collaborative project, AX Archive. Van opens the program in a performance with Shen that aims to mirror the narrative style of Shen’s most recent film. His new short film is from the ongoing series Grounds of Coherence and explores how language can be used to create spaces of belonging. In it, myths are recited in English between two lovers, a story is narrated in Arabic, and protesters chant in regional Mandarin. The duo’s EMPAC appearance concludes with improvisation, incorporating spatialized audio.

    Dancer and choreographer Ligia Lewis is at EMPAC 2024 with the first East Coast presentation of her stage production, A Plot / A Scandal (February 16 & 17). After debuting in Germany in 2022 it was recently awarded the prestigious annual Der Faust prize, citing Lewis as the “master of ceremonies.” This piece explores fantasy, pleasure, and narrative experimentation. Lewis’ prior performances in the U.S. have been called “the most vital new work…beautiful, blistering” by the New York Times.

    Akoma (March 15) previews the new multimedia production from acclaimed electronic musician and Pulitzer Prize for Music finalist Jlin, and visual artist Florence To, in preparation for the upcoming tour of Jlin’s latest album of the same name. Jlin’s music is influenced by “footwork,” a genre of post-house music originating in Chicago, featuring athletic and hyperactive rhythmic drive. For this concert, Florence To designed an interactive landscape of sound and light mapped onto various surfaces and lighting rigs that respond to Jlin’s music.

    EMPAC-commissioned concert Susceptible Chambers (April 5) by composer-performers Antonia Barnett-McIntosh and Jessie Marino is continuing the season’s theme of sonic exploration through everyday objects. It begins with the reconstruction of a simple microphone and expands into technologies from different eras, like pulley systems, pianolas, needlepoint, and sodium vapor lamps. Barnett-McIntosh and Marino create a new performance that draws the audience into an unusual and playful sonic and visual world, experimenting with and challenging accepted practices of today’s electronic music and contemporary music more broadly. They also present an open studio and talk (January 17) at the start of the season. 

    Space Carcasses (April 23) by performing artist and choreographer Onye Ozuzu is a work-in-progress dance performance that explores how architectures haunt the body and impart their histories to us as physical effects. The work includes a virtual, composite space layered with audiovisual data from three different architectural sites. Space Carcasses is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project with an international society of co-commissioners that includes dance centers across the states. At EMPAC, this free presentation offers a window into Ozuzu’s research, development, and production of Space Carcasses, including how the artist and EMPAC production teams are engineering a “sound dancer” using EMPAC’s spatialization sound technology. 

    Iconic Afro-gothic composer and vocalist M. Lamar closes out EMPAC’s Spring 2024 season with Machines and other intergalactic technologies of the spirit (May 3), the third collaboration with experimental music duo The Living Earth Show, as part of their ongoing residency at EMPAC. Lamar gains the production backing to put on his largest-scaled work to date: an evening of psychedelic rock, noise music, opera, and doom metal, drawing conceptually on the “Astro-Black mythology” of the visionary jazz artist Sun Ra.

    Lamar performs in a 15-foot tall rocketship-boat-coffin structure, with images of outer space as popularized by mass media over the years, ancient Egypt, and pre-Atlantic Christianity. The performance is a follow-up to M Lamar and The Living Earth Show’s 2019 Met Cloisters collaboration, Lordship and Bondage: The Birth of The Negro Superman. 

    The EMPAC Spring 2024 season also presents a curated set of lectures, with appearances from composer and artist Marina Rosenfeld, giving a work-in-progress talk that takes her decades-long work with dubplates into new visual and sonic territory (January 24); scholar André Lepecki, on choreographic works that challenge the ideas of time as a technology for policing movement (January 25); Marina Vishmidt, on art, labor, and value, reflecting on projects from EMPAC’s archive (February 22); Ezekiel Dixon-Román, on computation influenced by black radical anti-colonial thought, cybernetics, and critical philosophies of technology (March 21); and Peli Grietzer, on art’s structures concerning architectures of artificial intelligence (April 11). 

    For more information and to purchase tickets, visit here.

  • Lift Concert Series Returns to Troy Music Hall in 2024

    Troy Savings Bank Music Hall has announced the return of the popular Lift Concert Series in 2024. Curated by Organ Colossal, these performances give the audience the unique opportunity to sit on the historic Music Hall stage with the artists while they perform. 

    lift series troy music hall

    The Lift Concert Series presents performances of new, independent music featuring regional performers, curated by local artists Sam Torres and Sophia Subbayya Vastek. The audience is invited to be seated on stage, with the musicians, creating an intimate concert experience. Concerts are designed to last about an hour and, after the performance, concert-goers are encouraged to enjoy the rest of the evening at one of Troy’s many restaurants or breweries. All concerts begin at 6pm

    lift series troy music hall

    Lift Concert Series Lineup

    January 24 – Sophia Subbayya Vastek

    Described as performing with “passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail), pianist and songwriter Sophia Subbayya Vastek moves quietly between musical worlds. Her most recent LP, In Our Softening (2022), features nine of her own piano compositions. The album was called “one of the very best things I’ve heard all year” by longtime music journalist Steve Smith (Night After Night). She released her debut record Histories (Innova Recordings) in 2017, and more recently, an EP of the complete piano works by composer Lili Boulanger, entitled Lili (reissued 2023). In 2022, Sophia was recognized as a NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Music/Sound. She is a co-founder of Organ Colossal, a nonprofit that produces musical projects in her hometown of Troy, NY. She and her husband also run a music series out of their home, a converted church building lovingly called Troy Listening Room. This performance is sponsored by Artist Pianos.

    February 14 – Connor Armbruster with special guest Ian Cotter Wishlist

    After exploring the vast sanctuary of an empty church in 2022’s Masses, Armbruster inhabits a new setting with polar opposite qualities for his sophomore release with Dear Life Records, Can I Sit Here. The music, colored by distortion and cutting rawness befitting its subject matter, was created and recorded live in mono in the small back room of an apartment. Acoustic violin takes a backseat to Armbruster’s heavily distorted electric violin on this record as he improvises over textures simultaneously warm and dissonant. It is a reflection on loss and the feelings that follow a death, the delicate balance between despair, celebration, nostalgia, isolation, and kinship. Armbruster is based in Troy, NY and is behind a multi-faceted body of work exploring performance art, electric violin, Irish fiddle, traditional music, field recording, dance, and theatre. In addition to his solo projects, he plays electric violin and guitar for Blue Ranger, is a member of Hold On Honeys, and performs and records with numerous other artists in the capital region. He was musical director and lead composer for Troy Foundry Theatre’s original musical, City of Myth: Illium Sings. Outside of performance, Armbruster is a cartoonist and music educator, and proud parent of a 4-year-old.

    Thoughtfully eclectic, Ian Cotter Wishlist draws inspiration from fellow songwriters, composers, authors, visual artists, and the natural world to craft their recordings and live performances.

    March 27 – Aubrey Haddard & MAYSUN

    Aubrey Haddard is a self-proclaimed escape artist. When the tides change and personal growth calls for emotional upheaval, Aubrey seeks refuge in her creative discipline. Carving out a boundary-less space to explore the mysteries of the human experience and the vastness of the physical world, she creates a sonic landscape that is both epic and deeply personal. Dreamy synthscapes, overdriven guitars and pulsing electronic drums lay the foundation for Haddard’s vocals, heralded by critics as “harrowingly beautiful” (Clash Magazine) and “herculean” (The Line of Best Fit). Calling upon the inspirations of powerhouse PJ Harvey and dance music giant LCD Soundsystem alike, Haddard blends the analog and the digital with eccentricity. Themes of Greek mythology and Japanese literature weave their way through her stories, inviting listeners to peek into her subconscious and share in the escape. Haddard only leaves a few breadcrumbs and shoots for a surprise with each release. Moving on from her acoustic and minimalist debut EP Adult Lullabies,  her knotty and soulful full length album Blue Part received widespread critical acclaim and earned her the title of Vocalist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the 2018 Boston Music Awards before she left to pursue her a career in New York City. Leaning into new, pop-driven inspirations and the chaos of the NYC scene, Awake And Talking proved Haddard’s ability to dive head first into new sounds and set the stage for her current project. Splitting her time between the far corners of New York state, you might find her in a library, at a Yankee game or jumping into a swimming hole. Aubrey Haddard may be a rising star in the indie scene, and one to watch for those interested in the future of experimental electronic music but “above all, it’s humanity that drives Haddard’s art” (Under The Radar).

    MAYSUN is a composer and sound artist known for his unique blend of drumming expertise and sound design, creating immersive atmospheric soundscapes. With a focus on the use of physical space to shape and manipulate sounds, he crafts compositions that serve as soundtracks to his life events. MAYSUN’s work is characterized by an innovative approach that transforms real-life sounds into musical tones, skillfully interweaving the dimensions of time and space within its compositions. His artistic journey is driven by a deep passion for exploring spatial audio and a desire to create meaningful emotional connections through his music. MAYSUN’s latest release, ‘Timelines,’ represents his ongoing commitment to the craft of sound artistry, inviting listeners on a deep ambient introspective journey.

    May 1 – Rafiq Bhatia

    The New York Times proclaims “Rafiq Bhatia is writing his own musical language,” describing him as “a guitarist who refuses to be pinned to one genre, culture or instrument.” “His transient approach, combined with his obsession of assiduously studying the past in order to break cleanly from it, makes him one of the most intriguing figures in music today.”  Bhatia’s 2018 album Breaking English (Anti- Records) finds a visceral common ground between ecstatic avant-jazz, mournful soul, tangled strings and building-shaking electronics, resulting in a “stunningly-focused new sound” (Chicago Reader) that “resemble[s] science fiction on a blockbuster scale” (Washington Post). His 2020 EP, Standards Vol. 1 (Anti-) renders repertoire from the American songbook “completely deconstructed, infused with brand new textures and electronic effects, dreamlike and beautiful” (BBC).  Since 2014, Bhatia has been a member of the trio Son Lux; together, they have released several critically-acclaimed albums and given hundreds of performances internationally. A voracious collaborator, Bhatia has also worked with a multitude of artists across generations and musical communities, including Arooj Aftab, Holland Andrews, Hanna Benn, Ian Chang, Sam Dew, Dave Douglas, Marcus Gilmore, Mary Halvorson, Billy Hart, Shahzad Ismaily, Vijay Iyer, Kassa Overall, Kronos Quartet, Okkyung Lee, Nina Moffitt, Qasim Naqvi, Kassa Overall, Chris Pattishall, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Alex Somers, Moses Sumney, Anjna Swaminathan, Rajna Swaminathan, and David Virelles.

    Tickets are available now at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office, 30 Second Street, Troy, Monday through Friday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. via phone, (518) 273-0038, or online at www.troymusichall.org.

  • Music at Noon Series Returns to Troy Dec. 12 with Alan Goldberg

    Troy Savings Bank Music Hall returns with the free Music at Noon series, beginning with singer and song writer Alan Goldberg on December 12.

    Alan Goldberg

    Since 1988, on the second Tuesday of each month from October to May, the free Music at Noon concert series has presented exceptional musicians with a diverse mix of musical styles. Program sponsors include FAM Funds, Troy Redevelopment Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Fagan Associates, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, MVP Healthcare, and the Saratoga National Bank. This show will feature the MVP Health Care Coffee Hour.

    Join the fun early for a FREE cup of Stacks coffee 11am -12pm before the show begins.  Shows are free to attend and be sure to bring your lunch.

    For more information please visit here.

    Dec 12 – Alan Goldberg – Americana/ Original Singer/ Songwriter 

    Jan 9 – Heliand Consort – Woodwind ensemble/ Vermont based 

    Feb 13 – CelloGayageum – Korean Classical Fusion 

    March 12 – Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough, Young Kim, and Paul Quigley – Flute/piano/guitar 

    April 9 – Spira – Chamber Quartet 

    May 14 – Findlay Cockrell – Piano

  • Troy Music Hall to Welcome Joshua Redman & Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in February

    The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall will welcome two incredible jazz legends in February – Joshua Redman will perform on February 7, while Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will fill the historic venue on February 17. 

    Joshua Redman – February 7

    From its inception, the Blue Note label has stood for “The Finest In Jazz.” The same can be said for Joshua Redman. Over the past three decades, the saxophonist, composer, and bandleader has consistently demonstrated how to honor the music’s verities while expanding its reach in contemporary settings. He found the perfect partner in young vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa.

    “I had maybe heard Gabrielle’s name from her time in the Bay Area,” Redman notes, “but I wasn’t at all familiar with her music. One night in the Fall of 2021, my manager texted me in the middle of Gabrielle’s performance at a party in New Orleans. ‘You’ve got to hear this young lady,’ she said. ‘This is not a concert, it’s a casual event, and she is just riveting.’ Once I heard Gabrielle, I realized that she has an expressive quality and an intimacy and a vulnerability in her sound that is singularly captivating.” Having found a collaborator, Redman embarked on what proved to be a unique process.

    “Most of my previous recordings grew out of bands that had played and toured together consistently, and eventually developed a vibe and chemistry and repertoire to the point where we felt like we had to record. But in this case, while I had worked with each of the other instrumentalists many times before in a wide variety of settings, we hadn’t yet played all at the same time in the same group; and Gabrielle and I had literally never made a note of music together.” The resulting program is “not really about the pandemic itself,” Redman stresses, “but the uniquely isolating conditions of that time certainly played a role in the music’s creation. What began as a formal concept allowing two unacquainted artists to organize their ideas – something that could be discarded if necessary over time – had gained a deeper significance. “This was an album whose meaning revealed itself in the making.” where are we will leave listeners seeking to define where they, and we, are — inspired by the latest example of Joshua Redman at his finest.

    Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – February 17

    The world’s premier big band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis consists of 15 permanent members performing live in New York City and around the world. In 1988 the Orchestra was formed as an outgrowth of its concert series, Classical Jazz, with David Berger conducting. When Wynton Marsalis became artistic director in 1991, he emphasized the history of jazz, particularly Duke Ellington. The first album was Portraits by Ellington (1992), and seven years later the Ellington centennial was honored with the album Live in Swing City: Swingin’ with the Duke (1999). Under the leadership of Marsalis, the band performs at its home The House of Swing , tours throughout the U.S. and abroad, visits schools, appears on television, and performs with symphony orchestras. The Orchestra backed Wynton Marsalis on his album Blood on the Fields , which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997.

    Since 2015, the Orchestra’s albums have been issued on its own label, Blue Engine Records. The first release from Blue Engine Records, Live in Cuba, was recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the JLCO and released in October 2015. The label issued Big Band Holidays in December 2015, The Abyssinian Mass in March 2016, The Music of John Lewis in March 2017, and the JLCO’s Handful of Keys in September 2017. Blue Engine’s United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas features the Wynton Marsalis Septet and an array of special guests, with all proceeds going toward Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education initiatives. Blue Engine’s most recent album releases (2023) include Wynton Marsalis Plays Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Sevens  and The Jungle, a recording of Marsalis’ fourth symphony featuring the JLCO and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

    Tickets are on sale at 10am Wednesday, December 6th to Music Hall Members.  Anyone can become a member and gain access to the pre-sale.  Single tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, December 8th, at 10am via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at www.troymusichall.org.   More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.  

    Pre-sale tickets for Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Members are available Wednesday at 10am.  Single tickets will go on-sale at 10am to the public this Friday December 8.

  • The Albany Symphony Features Classical and Festive Family Events in December

    The Albany Symphony has a fun, festive lineup of holiday shows this December, featuring events and performances such as The Magic of Christmas, and two shows by world-renowned pianist and Grammy nominee Yefim Bronfman. The symphony organization will get involved this holiday season with a toy drive and collaborations with new and long-time community partners during their upcoming programming.

    The Magic of Christmas

    On December 3, The Palace Theater will present The Magic of Christmas, joined by community partners including The Music Studio, Capital District Youth Chorale, Boland School of Irish Dance, and the Zorkie Nelson African Drumming Ensemble. The performance will feature favorite Christmas carols, sing-a-longs, selections from the beloved Nutcracker musical, and more festive performances for all ages. In addition, Santa Claus will make an appearance for a night filled with family fun.

    David Alan Miller conducting

    On December 9 and 10, the symphony will welcome six-time Grammy nominee Yefim Bronfman to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, performing a selection of famed classical pieces for Capital Region audiences. A world-renowned piano soloist, Bronfman will present Johannes Brahms’ Piano No. 2, Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, as well as the world premiere of Loren Loiacono’s Beanie’s Chapbook.

    We are so fortunate to have Yefim Bronfman join us for these exciting concerts. He is one of the greatest pianists in the world, and a dear friend of our Albany Symphony. We are always deeply honored that he makes time in his busy schedule to come play with us. Working with an artist of his caliber elevates all of us, and always inspires us to match his brilliance. Hearing the mighty Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in the legendary Troy Savings Bank Music Hall with arguably its greatest living interpreter and our brilliant Albany Symphony musicians will be an unforgettable experience for everyone!

    David Alan Miller, Music Director and Conductor

    In addition to the upcoming performances, audiences are invited to participate in a Toy Drive for Mom Starts Here on December 3. The organization will be accepting new and unwrapped toys for the nonprofit that works to support local parents in need of resources and support as they navigate parenthood. 

    Tickets for these events and more information on Albany Symphony performances are available at albanysymphony.com.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV3QDd0UZjY

  • Free Music at Noon Series Returns to Troy

    The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall’s Music at Noon series has returned for the 2023-2024 season with The Lost Radio Rounders on Oct. 10. The rest of the year brings an eclectic lineup to the venue, featuring a wide variety of acts.

    Carl Gutowski & Yalin Chi.

    Since 1988, on the second Tuesday of each month from October to May, the free Music at Noon concert series has presented exceptional musicians with diverse musical styles. Returning in full swing on Nov. 14 is Carl Gutowski, a flutist based in the Hudson Valley and Cape Cod who has been performing in solo and chamber music settings for over 30 years. When he isn’t creating music he is a Software Engineer with nearly 30 years of experience developing software systems for air traffic control, publishing, education, e-commerce, and finance.

    Joining him is pianist Yalin Chi from Beijing, China, who made her debut with the Central Opera Orchestra before moving to the United States to study at Interlochen Arts Academy. She has performed and worked with musicians from across the globe, and studied at Julliard for her undergraduate and master’s degrees.

    Other performances at the Music at Noon series include singer/songwriter Alan Goldberg, performing a mix of originals and covers on Dec. 12. On Jan. 9, the Vermont-based Woodwind ensemble Heliand Consort performs, featuring a pre-show workshop titled “Explore Double Reeds & Piano: Demonstration & Instrument Petting Zoo.” Students will learn about chamber music and each instrument: piano, oboe, and bassoon, and how each of them operates. The workshop is free, register here.

    On Feb. 13, Korean classical fusion group CelloGayageum performs, with a free preshow workshop titled “Exploring Cello & Gayageum through Korean Folk Music,” where students learn about Korean culture through sing-alongs and immersive activities. Musicians Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough, Young Kim, and Paul Quigley perform at Music at Noon on March 12, featuring the flute, guitar, and piano.

    April 9 brings Spira, a group made up of Jamecyn Morey, violin, Brittany Zellman, viola, David Bebe, cello, and Chrysi Nanou, piano. There is a free pre-show workshop titled “Explore Bowed String Instruments and Piano: Demonstration & Instrument Petting Zoo,” showcasing their respective instruments.

    The final Music at Noon performance is on May 14 with Findlay Cockrell, an 87-year-old pianist, who taught music and performed at UAlbany and throughout the whole capital District, retiring from the university after 40 years in 2006.

    For more information about Music at Noon or the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall’s upcoming programs visit here.

  • The Sharks frontman Mike Kelley to play with The Hammerhead Horns at The Rustic Barn this November

    After a long absence from the front of the stage, Mike Kelley brings a few of his Sharks bandmates together as The Hammerhead Horns, plus friend and pianist Leslie Barkman, for a rare performance at The Rustic Barn in Troy on Friday, November 17.

    Mike Kelley and the Hammerhead Horns
    Mike Kelley and some of this Sharks bandmates

    Mike Kelley started out as a bandleader and songwriter leading The Sharks, a seven-piece combo whose popularity and fan base rivaled those of any Albany band in the 1980s. Kelley has spent the last two and a half decades as a sideman extraordinaire, as a studio keyboardist and on stage with The Lustre Kings, The Tichy Boys, Johnny Rabb, Nite Train, Lost Radio Rounders, Marc Tolstrup & Jill Burnam, The Lazy Suns, Off the Record, The Jagaloons and a reported ‘at least’ 20 other bands.

    Kelley has worked with Rockabilly Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson, Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna, and was chosen to play piano on several of the tracks on Jackson’s 32 album, Encore.

    Deemed one of the nicest guys in the local scene and a hell of a pianist, Mike Kelley continues to play more than 200 shows a year, all without any social media, website or YouTube channel.

    Expect an evening of originals penned by Kelley, Barkman and trumpet player Bob Button, familiar covers and undiscovered gems, and don’t miss this rare show from Mike Kelley and The Hammerhead Horns on Friday, November 17 in Troy at The Rustic Barn.

  • Award-Winning DJs/Producers The Halluci Nation Announce Show at The Sanctuary in Troy

    The Halluci Nation (formerly A Tribe Called Red) announced they are performing at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.

    The Halluci Nation at The Sanctuary
    Photo credit: Rémi Thériault.

    The Halluci Nation is comprised of Bear Witness and Tim “2oolman” Hill, beginning as an act of protest, throwing dance hall parties for Indigenous youth in their hometown of Ottawa to Indigenize the club space after realizing the city’s nightclubs hosted such parties for many different cultures, but none representing the First Nations community. The Halluci Nation takes its name from a phrase coined by John Trudell, to describe the vast global community of people who remember at their core what it means to be human. As a visionary artist and activist, Trudell recognized the connection between his accomplishments and what A Tribe Called Red did intuitively through music and art. 

    Through groundbreaking stage shows and ever-changing visuals, Bear Witness and 2oolman are working to create media that reflects the modern-day Indigenous identity. They are facilitating a necessary conversation around a subtle and complex representation of the contemporary Indigenous experience. The project is built on collaboration, with the duo collaborating with a diverse set of people, including Yasiin Bey (AKA Mos Def), the Indigenous Australian band, OKA, the Wayuu-Colombian powerhouse, Lido Pimienta, and more.

    The next chapter for The Halluci Nation has them further exploring the boundaries of cross-genre collaborations. “We wanted to take the music to another place,” says 2oolman. “We showed a little bit of our ambitious side on our last record and we got to do a lot of songs that we’d been wanting to do for a long time. And this is just the start. We are at the point where we are making music we love, inspired by our everyday lives and the people that surround us. We’ve got so much more coming.”

    The Halluci Nation at The Sanctuary
    Photo credit: Rémi Thériault.

    This event is part of the Sanctuary Eco-Art Trail project, connecting Indigenous legacy with environmental justice. Located on a block-wide environmental campus in North Central on settler lands, this neighborhood is one of the most under-resourced in New York State, with a long history of disinvestment and environmental contamination. The Eco-Art Trail acknowledges these layered histories as they dream and build towards restored biocultural diversity and robust Indigenous futures.

    For more information about the show, visit here.

  • Nickel Creek 2024 Tour To Stop in Rochester, Troy, Buffalo

    Grammy Award-winning trio, Nickel Creek—mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins—will continue their extensive headline tour next year including newly confirmed shows in Rochester, Troy, and Buffalo.

    After meeting as young children in California’s That Pizza Place, and subsequently earning the respect of the bluegrass circuit for a decade, the trio signed with venerable label, Sugar Hill Records, in 2000 and quickly broke through with their Grammy-nominated, Alison Krauss-produced self-titled LP. Since that effort, the trio has released three more studio albums to date: 2002’s This Side, which won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 45th Grammy Awards, 2005’s Why Should the Fire Die? and 2014’s A Dotted Line. 

    Each member of Nickel Creek has also taken part in many outside projects over the years. Chris Thile is a 2012 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and served as the host of the American radio variety show “Live from Here” (formerly “A Prairie Home Companion”) from 2016 to 2020. He has also released collaborative albums with world-renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Brad Mehldau and Stuart Duncan as well as six studio albums with his Grammy-winning band, Punch Brothers. Sean Watkins is a co-founder of Watkins Family Hour alongside Sara, who has released three albums and maintains a long-running collaborative show in Los Angeles. Sean has also released a string of solo albums, while Sara’s extracurricular projects include the aforementioned Watkins Family Hour, as well as the Grammy-winning roots trio, I’m With Her, which she co-founded alongside Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz. Sara Jarosz has released four studio albums and has contributed fiddle to recordings for artists like Phoebe Bridgers, The Killers, and John Mayer.

    Even stronger when together, Nickel Creek revolutionized bluegrass and folk in the early 2000s and ushered in a new era of what we now recognize as Americana music. In a 2020 retrospective entitled, “The Year Folk Broke: How Nickel Creek Made Americana The New Indie Rock,” NPR Music praised, “20 years ago this month, an album arrived that seemed to speak all these languages at once: unafraid to push the boundaries of its primary genre, and packing the musical chops to bring such an eclectic vision to life. Behind it were three musicians just barely old enough to vote” and continued, “That makes Nickel Creek and its unofficial debut a critical point along a storied timeline, one whose innovations offer countless connections between the genre’s origins and its future. Once dubbed ‘progressive newgrassers,’ the three musicians now fit firmly within the ranks of Americana music—however nebulous, layered and diverse that realm may be. They have only themselves to thank.”

    The upcoming shows add to a landmark year for the group, who released Celebrants—their fifth studio album and first release in nine years—this past spring via Thirty Tigers. Additionally, Nickel Creek recently received the Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award at the 2023 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards and performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “CBS Saturday Morning” earlier this year.

    Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A, the album was produced by longtime collaborator Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Grace Potter, Weezer) and features Mike Elizondo on bass. Reflecting on the project, the band shares, “This is a record about embracing the friction inherent in real human connection. We begin the record yearning for and pursuing harmonious connection. We end the record having realized that truly harmonious connection can only be achieved through the dissonance that we’ve spent our entire adult lives trying to avoid.”

    NICKEL CREEK CONFIRMED TOUR DATES

    February 6, 2024—Iowa City, IA—Hancher Auditorium

    February 7, 2024—Madison, WI—Overture Hall

    February 9, 2024—Des Moines, IA—Hoyt Sherman Place

    February 10, 2024—Indianapolis, IN—Murat Theatre at Old National Centre

    February 12, 2024—Peoria, IL—Peoria Civic Center Theater

    February 13, 2024—Kalamazoo, MI—Kalamazoo State Theatre

    February 15, 2024—Columbus, OH—Mershon Auditorium

    February 16, 2024—Fort Wayne, IN—The Clyde Theatre

    February 17, 2024—Louisville, KY—The Louisville Palace

    February 19, 2024—Durham, NC—Durham Performing Arts Center

    February 20, 2024—Augusta, GA—Miller Theater

    February 21, 2024—Jacksonville, FL—Florida Theatre

    February 23, 2024—Fort Lauderdale, FL—Broward Center for the Performing Arts

    February 24, 2024—Clearwater, FL—Ruth Eckerd Hall

    March 12, 2024—Canton, OH—Canton Palace Theatre

    March 14, 2024—Bethesda, MD—Music Center at Strathmore

    March 15, 2024—Newark, NJ—NJPAC

    March 16, 2024—Rochester, NY—Kodak Center

    March 17, 2024—Burlington, VT—Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

    March 19, 2024—Groton, MA—Groton Hill Music Center Concert Hall 

    March 21, 2024—Storrs, CT—Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts

    March 22, 2024— Troy, NY—Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

    March 23, 2024—Buffalo, NY—University at Buffalo Center for the Arts

    March 24, 2024— Lancaster, PA—American Music Theatre

    April 26, 2024—Knoxville, TN—Tennessee Theatre

    April 27, 2024—Savannah, GA—Johnny Mercer Theatre

    April 30, 2024—Huntsville, AL—VBC Mark Smith Concert Hall

    May 2, 2024—Little Rock, AR—The Hall

    Tickets for the 2024 shows are available for pre-sale starting today, October 25, at 10:00am local time with general on-sale following this Friday, October 27 at 10:00am local time. Full details can be found at www.nickelcreek.com/tour. 

    For more information on the band or any upcoming shows, follow Nickel Creek on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or visit their website.

    Stream their music via Apple Music or Spotify.

  • Cooking with Fire: Kitchen Dwellers Bring the Heat in Cohoes

    Full of gritty energy, thoughtful storytelling, extremely tight improvisation, a spectacular light show, and a palpable connection to their audience, Kitchen Dwellers brought their unique brand of psychedelic bluegrass to Cohoes, NY on Thursday, October 12th.

    No strangers to the Capital Region, Kitchen Dwellers have played the area many times over the years, but the second show of their 2023 fall tour would be their first at the historic Cohoes Music Hall, one of the oldest (and allegedly haunted) venues in the country. Delivering an absolute scorching performance, the level of musicianship on display was scary good.

    Kitchen Dwellers made their Cohoes Music Hall debut on 10/12/2023.

    Showing up to the corner of Remsen and Cayuga, you were instantly met with heady vibes from the municipal lot as the jokers and tokers greeted one another.  There was a laid back feeling of familiarity and optimism as people of all ages lined up to check out the plethora of band merch and the gorgeous limited edition show poster designed by artist Dan Dippel. Fans who got there early enough were treated to a delicious appetizer from the young-and-hungry opening act, Fireside Collective from Asheville, NC. 

    After a brief set change, Capital Region show promoter Greg Bell of Guthrie Bell Productions took center stage to welcome everyone to the Cohoes Music Hall and wax nostalgic for a moment before introducing Kitchen Dwellers to a massive ovation. Wasting no time serving up the main course, the band set the tone early with a “Sundown” opener, the first of five songs that would be played from their latest album, Wise River. They had the crowd captivated from the very first note.

    Kitchen Dwellers (L-R): Max Davies, Torrin Daniels, Joe Funk, and Shawn Swain performing on 10/12/23.

    Consisting of Torrin Daniels on banjo, Joe Funk on bass, Max Davies on guitar, and Shawn Swain on mandolin, describing their inspired sound is no easy task. Utilizing traditional string instruments, adding a few effect pedals and foregoing a drummer, their expansive playing is full of character, bombastic banjo riffs, lightning fast licks, virtuosic finger picking and foot-stomping grooves. These guys make the complex look effortless.  After squeezing “Their Names Are The Trees” into a “This Time” sandwich, the Kitchen Dwellers were cooking with pure gasoline as they alligatored “Smokestack” through a pair of choice covers – “Salt Creek” and “Alcohol in the Bloodstream.” Coming up for air to greet the audience and exchange some friendly banter about the proper pronunciation of Cohoes, the band would then invite Fireside Collective dobro player, Tommy Maher, to the stage for the remainder of the set. 

    Chest Fever: Fireside Collective’s Tommy Maher (dobro) joined in on the fun on 10/12/23.

    Taking control of the ship and guiding the band through the crowd-pleasing title track of 2019’s Muir Maid, upright bassist Joe Funk’s vocals sounded fantastic here, while the extended interplay and energy of Torrin’s flying dreadlocks and Maher’s youthful exuberance sent the room into a fever pitch. With the venue itself located just on the outskirts of Levon Country, perhaps that was their intention all along, as a well-placed cover of The Band’s classic “Chest Fever” would bring the opening frame to a close.

    Kitchen Dwellers’ Joe Funk croons away in Cohoes, NY 10/12/23.

    When Kitchen Dwellers hit the stage for round 2, it didn’t take them long to address the elephant in the room, or in this case, the ghost. Nicknamed “The girl who made vaudeville famous,” many believe the spirit of Eva Tanguay has haunted the Cohoes Music Hall since her death in 1947.  Often “felt” hanging around just off stage left and sometimes in the center of the balcony’s second row, the band acknowledged this bit of folklore by offering up their song “Ghost in a Bottle” in tribute.

    Ghost in a Bottle: Kitchen Dwellers make an offering to the ghost of Eva Tanguay on 10/12/23.

    The real meat and potatoes of the set would come next as the Dwellers found their groove on “Stand at Ease” which seamlessly segued into a cover of “White Freightliner Blues.” Showing a deep respect to their roots by weaving together a tapestry of their influences, the dexterity and speed at which these guys play make it almost impossible to stand still. After a stellar version of “Gypsy,” the band gave a special shoutout to a group of friends who traveled there from Vermont, allegedly breaking the record for the most people you can cram into a van, something which Torrin found debatable. Announcing they weren’t going to do the typical encore thing and that they’d just play until the venue kicked them out, the enthusiastic crowd were then treated to a sizzling combination of “Mountain” > “Drowning (… Again)” > “Ebenezer’s Winter” to bring the tasty night of galaxy-grass jams to a close just after midnight. 

    Putting a fresh spin on an old genre and blending the past with the future,  Kitchen Dwellers rose to the occasion in Cohoes and threw down a performance that will be talked about for years to come. Upon leaving the Cohoes Music Hall, perhaps one excited fan summed it up best, saying “That was the best $20 I’ve spent in a very long time.“

    With fall tour just getting underway, fans in New York won’t need to wait long to catch them again. Kitchen Dwellers have been tapped by Twiddle to take part in their final shows next month before going on an indefinite hiatus. The sentimental sendoff will take place at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. For more details on tour dates and tickets head to kitchendwellers.com.

    Kitchen Dwellers | October 12, 2023 | Cohoes Music Hall | Cohoes, NY

    Set 1: Sundown, This Time > Their Names Are the Trees > This Time, Smokestack>Salt Creek >Alcohol In the Bloodstream, Muir Maid * > Chest Fever *

    Set 2: Ghost in the Bottle > Cuckoo’s Nest [Traditional] > Ghost In the Bottle, Stand At Ease > White Freightliner Blues, Gypsy, Mountain > Drowning (… Again) > Ebenezer’s Winter

    * Featuring Tommy Maher of Fireside Collective on Dobro